T
TLM08
Guest
I am sure this question has been asked before but I can I fulfill my Sunday obligation by attending the SSPX Mass? Pardon my ignorance and Thank You for your reply and your patience. 
- Status
M
maurin
Guest
The Short Answer: you may.I am sure this question has been asked before but I can I fulfill my Sunday obligation by attending the SSPX Mass? Pardon my ignorance and Thank You for your reply and your patience.
The Long Answer: Consider these things well: 1) is there a Diocesan Traditional Latin Mass offered regularly within a reasonable drive? If yes, you should consider assisting there. If no, then consider assisting there on the Sundays when it is offered, and at the SSPX Chapel the Sundays it is not. 2) Are you certain that His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI and whomever else occupies St. Peter’s Chair in the future is the Vicar of Christ and is the head of the visible Church on earth? 3) Do you wish to assist at an SSPX Mass, because you are in love with the Traditional Teachings and Liturgy of the Church, and there is no other way in your Diocese to be exposed to the Mass of all Times and consistently and unequivocably the CHurch’s Timeless Teachings?
Remain a loyal son of the Church no matter your decision. Exhaust your options before making a decision which is not fully endorsed by our Holy Father. The SSPX, although dear to me, has an irregular canonical status and is an internal matter of reconciliation within the Church at this time, but reconciliation is still needed. We all pray for regularization of the Society’s status. The decision to assist at their Masses should not be taken lightly, especially if viable options exist in your area.
E
ethelzguy
Guest
These comments, along with a complete omission of the NO Mass (which the Pope has clearly stated to be the Ordinary Form) sounds an awful lot like SSPX prostelyzation to me.
J
JKirkLVNV
Guest
No blanket permissions have been given by the Holy See for the faithful to attend SSPX masses. Remember, their bishops are excommunicate, their priests are suspended ad divinis, and the faithful are cautioned against the dangers of schism by attendance or association with them.
F
franklinf
Guest
Well said, great explanation of the issue!
J
JKirkLVNV
Guest
Is it a great explanation because it is true or is it a great explanation because you like it?
F
franklinf
Guest
How so? It seems to be he is merely reiterating what members of the Church hierarchy have already said.
Msgr. Camille Perl (PCED’s Secretary) stated that, “In the strict sense you may fulfill your Sunday obligation by attending a Mass celebrated by a priest of the Society of St. Pius X…If your primary reason for attending were to manifest your desire to separate yourself from communion with the Roman Pontiff and those in communion with him, it would be a sin. If your intention is simply to participate in a Mass according to the 1962 Missal for the sake of devotion, this would not be a sin.”
F
franklinf
Guest
Because it is true and it was a simple and direct answer to the question.You may fulfill your Sunday obligation by attending a SSPX Mass.
What is not to be liked by maurin’s response? Does he recommend attending an SSPX Mass over a Diocesan one? No. Does he recommend attending one due to sede / schismatic beliefs? No. Does he acknowledge the irregular canonical status of the SSPX? Yes. Does he recommend making the decision lightly? No. Are there any lies or mistruths? No.
Yes there is an irregular canonical status between the SSPX and the Church. Are they schismatic? No.
Cardinal Castrillón has stated that, "The bishops, priests and faithful of the Society of St Pius X are not schismatics. It is Archbishop Lefebrve who has undertaken an illicit episcopal consecration and therefore performed a schismatic act. It is for this reason that the Bishops consecrated by him have been suspended and excommunicated. The priests and faithful of the Society have not been excommunicated. They are not heretics…
B
bpbasilphx
Guest
Mass of all Times
And what are the Eastern Liturgies? Chopped liver?
And what are the Eastern Liturgies? Chopped liver?
J
JKirkLVNV
Guest
Not so. The letter you quote and which you fail to quote in its full context was directed to one specific person in one specific situation. Indeed, the letter (which I cannot at present locate in toto) stated that the Holy See did not and could not recommend attendance at the SSPX Mass.
Further, what can truthfully be said about the SSPX is to be found in *Ecclesia Dei. *Their bishops are excommunicate, their priests suspended *ad divinis *(and thus their sacraments illicitly offered), and the faithful are warned against imbibing in the spirit of schism. Now, if there is no schism (and that may be somewhat grey), there was no need for the Servant of God Pope John Paul II to warn against the spirit of schism. Finally, what a cardinal says in an interview (and that’s all Cardinal Castrillion is quoted in) does not alter what a reigning pontiff has said. Cardinal Kasper goes about the world saying a great number of rather unusual things. That does not make those things so. A whole hand of cardinals, a whole college of cardinals, does not trump a pope in the exercise of his authority.
J
JKirkLVNV
Guest
Just so! The Mass of All Times, the Mass of the Ages, is whatever Mass (or Divine Liturgy) the Church offers…all of them. Regardless of the outward clothing, it is all the same Holy Sacrifice.
M
maurin
Guest
no, they are the highly esteemed, venerable and Ancient Liturgies of the East.
In this thread, though, we are discussing Masses of the Latin Rite. We are not discussing the Eastern Liturgies, which we all hold to be highly esteemed, venerable and Ancient.
Sorry for the confusion.
M
maurin
Guest
JKirk,
I don’t believe that anyone is arguing against this.
The topic of the thread is: can one fulfill one’s Sunday Obligation by assisting at a Mass offered at an SSPX Chapel.
I
I_Believe
Guest
Context bpbasilphx. It’s obvious what is being discussed here.
If this OP was posted in Eastern Catholicism, then, yes, you would be quite right to ask that question. To discuss this topic over there would be rude and insensitive.
But when in Rome…
Edit to add: Mea culpa bpbasilphx, I was typing as maurin posted a similar reply. It wasn’t my intent to “pile on”.
F
franklinf
Guest
Speaking only in regards to the Latin Rite, the N.O. Mass can’t be considered the “Mass of All Times.” The N.O. Mass was the result of a liturgical commission during Vatican II, not the result of an organically grown and developed liturgy (over the course of 1500 years) as the TLM was.
*So there is no confusion, I am merely referring to the phrase “Mass of All Ages,” not the validity of the N.O. Mass (which it clearly is) or a difference in the actual Holy Sacrifice (which there is not).
M
maurin
Guest
These are all things that when taken together, all that which has been posted above–the posts on topic, that is-- is that there is great confusion on both sides…
In all honesty, what JPII warned against still holds true–we must be on guard againstthe spirit of schism. But it also holds true that Pope Benedict XVI, our reigning Holy Father, has written that the status of the Society is one to be regarded as an internal matter of reconciliation within the Church. While Cardinal Castrillon has stated clearly that he CANNOT recommend fulfilling one’s Sunday obligation with the Society, he also stated clearly that one CAN fulfill one’s obligation there out of love for the Church’s Traditional Liturgy and Teachings.
All quite confusing, JKirk, I agree. But we must be on our guard not to go further than the Church has in our condemnation of the Society, nor to take the Church’s words less stringently than the Church has uttered them in regards to the Society.
F
franklinf
Guest
Yes, there is no need go off topic (fulfillment of Sunday obligation at a SSPX Mass). It has been stated by members of the Church hierarchy within the PCED (which deals with matters pertaining to the TLM and SSPX) that one can fulfill the Sunday Obligation at an SSPX Mass. If this was not so, wouldn’t the Pope correct them, lest the faithful be led into sin?
T
TLM08
Guest
There was no need for him to mention the Novus Ordo Mass because it was not the subject my question in the original post. This has NOTHING to do with prostelyzation either. Please stay on topic.
Thanks
B
bpbasilphx
Guest
** Originally Posted by bpbasilphx View Post
Mass of all Times
And what are the Eastern Liturgies? Chopped liver?
Context bpbasilphx. It’s obvious what is being discussed here.**
**It is obvious what is being discussed–and being assumed.
It’s being assumed that the Tridentine Mass is the preferred standard for all the Churches.**
Mass of all Times
And what are the Eastern Liturgies? Chopped liver?
Context bpbasilphx. It’s obvious what is being discussed here.**
**It is obvious what is being discussed–and being assumed.
It’s being assumed that the Tridentine Mass is the preferred standard for all the Churches.**
P
ProVobis
Guest
Speaking of which, they also fulfill the Sunday obligation, even the Orthodox ones.
Also prayer under certain circumstances.
**By the way, it is not cool to refer to any catholic rite as chopped liver, even if in sarcasm. **!!!
- Status